Man-eater
by Winter Ivy
Summary: 20 years after the revolution, something is still hunting and killing and... eating its enemies. The Kenshin-gumi are drawn into a deadly dance with the man-eater as they stop it from killing others... and taking Kaoru away...


**I don't own Rurouni Kenshin and make no claim of such a thing. This only a fanfiction and I will make no profit off of it.**   
  
"Man-eater"  
By ~Ivy~  
  
  
The man-eater's hunger was finally appeased.   
  
The hunger was no longer the painful tightening of his stomach, nor the aching pulse in   
his head, but instead it was now just a contented grumble that made him tired. Idly   
the man-eater wondered how long the hunger would stay away this time, but he quickly   
dismissed the thought. It didn't matter really, the hunger would come when it did, and   
until then he could remember his latest conquest. Letting out a loud yawn, the   
man-eater allowed himself to run over the last few days' events.  
  
The cow lasted longer than the others. Not too much longer, mind you, because it was a   
human after all, and humans were weak creatures. But he had to give the cow credit for   
staying alive as long as it did. Living three days through being eaten alive was not an   
easy feat.   
  
Oh yes, he did have to admire the cow for that.  
  
The man-eater stretched languidly in the small cave he had claimed as his own, and   
skimmed a lazy eye over his latest victim.   
  
The human cow, or what remained of it, was stretched across the floor in front of him.   
At its head and feet were stakes where the cows hands and feet had been tied to assure   
it wouldn't squirm *too* much during the feasting. The feasting had also taken longer   
than normal in account that the cow was larger than most. Yet the more meat the better,   
the man-eater thought, and this cow had had plenty of meat.   
  
Not too much remained of the cow now, however, except his face. The man-eater always   
saved the flesh of the face for last. It was just too enjoyable to see the expressions   
that crossed it, and the screams of help or agony that were omitted from it, to eat it   
so quickly after all. This last cow had probably the best expressions out of all his   
prey, too.   
  
Yes, his latest hunt was a success well done, the man-eater thought with an arrogant   
smile.   
  
The smile quickly turned to a frown and a scream of anger.  
  
For an observer, the grimaces of pain and expressions of fury that crossed the   
man-eater's face as he writhed on the ground are something out of a horror story. The   
man-eater's fingers, which had metal claws attached to their tips and already soaked in   
his victim's blood, scratched viciously at his face as the creature rolled around on   
the ground, howling. Screams only creatures that were cruel and didn't care about   
another living creature were torn loose from the man-eater's throat. Amber eyes, with   
a tint of crimson red, rolled furiously in the man-eater's head.  
  
Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. With a few shaky breaths, the man-eater   
pushed him self up from his crouched position and stood, warily glancing around the   
cave. His eyes, a dark gold, finally landed on the carcass of a man, tied to stakes like a pig about to be gutted and cooked.  
  
The man-eater let out a hoarse sound and slid back down.   
  
"No, not again. Please, not again...." the man-eater croaked, his eyes riveted on the   
bloodied body of what was once a man.  
  
The devoured carcass didn't respond. With a shake of his head, the man-eater stood and   
stumbled blearily out of the cave. He had to go home, he had to get away from here.   
Maybe if he went home, he wouldn't change. Maybe if he went home, he wouldn't get the   
hunger.  
  
Maybe if he went home, he would leave his other side for good.  
  
Ignoring the darkness around him, and the sounds of predators slinking in the night, the   
man-eater ran on shaky legs. It would be 20 years since the end of the war and 20 years   
since the last time he was home. The man-eater could only hope that his family still   
lived in the same place.  
  
And as he ran through the forest, tears streaming down his bloodied face, the man-eater   
became a man.   
  
**To be continued?? Tell me what you thought!** 


End file.
